This is our fourth year of this very lovely evening.  We'll gather at 6:30 and will enjoy a casual Italian-styled dinner.  We'll sing carols and just have a quiet and sweet evening together.  Bring friends or share ours. 

My sister, Heather, will sing as will the lovely Jenna Lindbo. 

 

I hope you can join in.

 

Here's this year's menu:

(and no, we will not be serving Christmas Tree "Peeps", unless you ask nicely...)

 

At the start:

A Southern Antipasto (consisting of...)

with Oven-Roasted Balsamic tomatoes, Italian Sausage bites, local Brie with Cranberry Chutney, marinated and roasted winter vegetables, and Toasted Baguettes

 

Tomato and Basil Soup Shooters

 

The First Course:

Creamy Risotto with Local Pumpkin

 

The Main Event:

Adam's Beef Bracciole (Italian Beef Rolls with a Rustic Tomato Sauce)

Roasted Maple-glazed Brussels Sprouts

 

Parmesan Foccacia

 

The Sweet Finish:

Individual Molten Chocolate Cakes with Vanilla Bourbon Cream

 

The price per person is 45 which includes everything listed here.  If you'd like wine with your dinner please add 15.  (We can accommodate vegetarians too - just let us know.)

 

We make a dinner to go on Christmas Eve each year.  The dinners are ready in time for you to come pick them up, have an early meal, and still get to the Christmas Eve events that you may have.  or - if you go to an early service, our dinner will be all ready for you when you get home. 

 

Here are the details:

 

The menu this year is:

Apple Cider-roasted Turkey Breast

or

Grilled Salmon with Tarragon and Lemon

 

Sweet Potato Casserole

 

Garlicky Local Kale

 

Cheddar Cheese Rolls

 

Egg Nog Bread Pudding with a Brandy Sauce

 

Monday, December 17

Lemon Chicken Florentine 7.95

 

Tuesday, December 18

Spinach Mushroom Taquitos 7.95

 

Wednesday, December 19

Grilled Flank Steak with Roasted Winter Vegetables 8.50 (GF)

 

Thursday, December 20

Lamb Curry 10.25

 

Friday, December 21

Beer Battered Catfish 9.25

 

Casserole to go:

 

Wednesday, December 19

Whole: 60 Half: 30

 

Lasagna to go:

 

Friday, December 21

Whole: 38 Half: 19

 

We're making a New Year's Eve Dinner to go too. You do know that to ensure good luck you should eat hoppin' john and collard greens.  You're supposed to eat "hog jowl" too but we're skipping that particular bit this year - deciding instead to make a vegetarian meal.

 

Here are the particulars:

 

New Year’s Eve Dinner to Go

For Monday, December 31

 

Ring in the new: a Vegetarian dinner

Hoppin’ John (Black-eye Peas and Rice)

Southern-style Collard Greens

Sorghum-glazed Sweet Potato Wedges

Cornbread

Pear Upside Down Cake

 

Price per person 12.95

Please order by Friday, December 28 if possible 

We've decided to stay open later.  We're now here and ready to help you until 8pm, Monday through Friday.  Do stop in on your way to the theatre or the movies or, well, just because you can!  We make Simple Supper foods every day so even if you've come for lunch, you can come back and have dinner with us and have completely different foods.

 

No, this does not relate to food, or the shop or, well, much of anything, except that it is a pretty snap of an arrangement of shirts I saw in Austin when I was there for my exciting weekend with Livestrong.

 

Speaking of Livestrong, a group here is working on making a dream of mine come true.  We're going to have a bike ride to benefit the Livestrong at the YMCA program which helps cancer survivors get back to having a full, active life after treatment.  (This program has helped me enormously, which is why I care so much about it.  All funding for the local programs come from here - and is not sufficient to help all those who want to be in the program - hence this ride.) 

 

The ride will be on May 18 and is going to be called The JOYride for The YMCAs of WNC.

 

Nope, she has not grown.  I just got a new mini chair for my home and she, not fitting ON the chair, made do with stretching out in front of it.

 

Just thought you'd like to see this snap. 

Comfort and Joy. 

December 15, 2012

Hiya.

I woke up this morning from a vivid dream with a striking image of a baby Praying Mantis, bright green and bold again a background of black leather. The Mantis might have been dead or maybe it was just in that frozen position that they adopt when something odd appears. Every time I closed my eyes the picture dominated anything else that I might have seen. Hmmm. Got any idea what that’s about?

 

This week is generally my favorite week of the year, as the journey to darkness lets up as we cross that Solstice night. Some years I have felt like I was suspended in time, waiting, waiting, waiting for the light to return. This year is no different and I am glad that we’ll start to creep into the light. Very soon.

 

Last week I was delighted to report that I was done with treatments. Well, turns out that a second opinion is recommending I continue for a bit more. I was crushed when this was suggested, but I’ve had a bit of time to reflect and am now trying to spin it to myself. I am grateful to have a body that can undergo this for a bit more, as it seems that will help any residual disease make a final exit. Also, having had 24 treatments, four more does not seem impossible. And I do get a month reprieve to get my body built up for the next (last?) round.

 

Sigh.

 

In the meantime, this week will be a good one. On Thursday we have our Comfort and Joy dinner here. My sister Heather and my friend Jenna will be here to sing with us. Adam is taking charge of the kitchen, making his family’s Beef Bracciole (they say “brazhoul”) which, from his sample makes me VERY excited. It is the cusp of the Solstice, the last of the turning to the darkness for this year.

 

On Friday I am the chef for this year’s Christmas celebration of a firm in neighboring Brevard. This year is #21. THAT, my friends, is a good long string. It seems like it was just last month that we were out there for their party. Time is odd for me this year but it really was a whole year ago when I was there last. True.

 

On Saturday I get to go to a friend’s party. This is a small get together and is always sweet - sitting in front of their fireplace, tucking into the warmth and the victuals, all of which are always great.

 

Next week I get ready for my big sister and her beau, who are coming for the holidays. It’s time to fill the fridge and the cupboards. Time to plan some meals for everyone. Time to put up a few more decorations. Time to hang the stockings, fill the wood box, dust the glass. I’ve spent a lot of time this past year sleeping and healing. Now, suddenly, it is time for my family to arrive. No one expects anything other than just being together, which is nice.

 

I had a very special start to this quiet season last week. My friend Laurie Lewis visited. We had planned to have her do a house concert here in the café, which would have been very nice, but it was my final day of treatment and I was not exactly sure how I would feel so we decided to just have a quiet dinner out. After dinner we went home and had a very lovely, very small concert: just us and Tye. Laurie played me some new songs that she is working on. I tended the fire, listened with Tye curled up at my feet. It was a very sweet, very warm, very special evening.

 

So I’m settling in to these days, this new information, this new plan for me. I feel good. Strong. Resolved to continue and try to put a positive spin on all these turns of events. And, much as I want to KNOW, that’s not in the cards right now. Living with the questions seems to be the current way to be.

 

Hope this week is good to you.

Until next week – cheers.

Color is everywhere!  Want to come play with color for a day?  We still have a few spots open, but don't dawdle if you want in - the class is almost full.

 

Here's the drill:

Spend a very fun day with me and my color friend/teacher Alicia Keshishian - a full day of playing with color on Sunday, January 13th.  We'll meet in the cafe (our shop) and will have the place to ourselves to play, paint, color, dance, cavort and what have you.

 

Alicia, a color expert and rug designer (to give a very truncated summary of her talents) will guide us in a very fun exploration of color.  Some thinking, some talking, some messing around with paint and crayons (or whatever you like to play with) and much more. 

 

There is a limit to the number of folks we can accommodate so please register EARLY!  The cost for the class is $135 which covers all the class handouts and papers, glue and paste and tape and all that too.  Please bring your own paints or colored pencils or pastels...

 

If you'd like, we'll have a lunch for you too.  The class will be from 10am until 4:30 with a bit of a lunch break at mid-day.  Payment is by check to Alicia.  You can e-mail me to save your spots: laurey@laureysyum.com.  And if you reserve a spot you're in!